‘Criminal Minds’ season 11, episode 18 reaction: Shemar Moore explains key decision

Tonight, Derek Morgan reminded Garcia that she will always be his #1 baby girl, and in the end, he also took one last bow as a star on “Criminal Minds.” Tonight’s episode “A Beautiful Disaster” was the final episode for Shemar Moore as a regular; while the good news is that Derek was not killed off, the bad news for fans is that you won’t be seeing him around any longer.

So why did this happen? As Moore himself tells TVLine, this was his own choice to move forward and try out some other challenges beyond appearing on the show. Not only that, though, but he also wants to have a little more time to enjoy his life:

“I need balance in my life … I love what I do for a living, I love it from ‘action’ to ‘cut’, but I also want to walk my dogs, travel, get married, have kids. I want balance, and it’s hard to do with the schedule that we have.”

We do think that this was probably the best showcase for Moore that he could have possibly had as an actor, and the story made perfect sense. He left in order to be the best father possible, and to keep himself from being a target in the future. It was a responsible thing to do, and even if this wasn’t a TV show where actors come and go and we were watching real people, we feel like many would say Derek made the right choice.

If you want to get some more news on “Criminal Minds,” be sure to head over here to read our full review of Wednesday night’s new episode. Also, sign up over here to get some more news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)